Topic
Every decision we've filed under Intellectual Property.
The Federal Circuit affirmed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's decision denying Lemko Corp.'s petition for inter partes review of Microsoft's patents. The court held that the Board's finding of patent validity was supported by substantial evidence in the record.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's decision upholding the validity of the challenged patent claims. The court found that the Board's factual findings were supported by substantial evidence in the record, leaving no reversible error in the agency's conclusion.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed a district court judgment holding defendants liable for copyright infringement of Arabic-language programming. The court rejected challenges to DISH's ownership chain and upheld the finding that defendants directly infringed by using encoders to transmit protected works to U.S. customers.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of a default judgment on trademark infringement claims, finding no clear error in the lower court's analysis of likelihood of confusion. The appellate panel upheld the dismissal of the plaintiff's claims, ruling that the marks were not sufficiently similar and the businesses were geographically isolated.
The Federal Circuit affirmed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's finding that Centripetal's network security patent claims were unpatentable because a prior user guide served as an available printed publication. The court upheld the Board's claim construction and factual findings regarding the public accessibility of the reference, leaving the patent invalid.
The Federal Circuit affirmed the invalidity of two patents because Fortress Iron failed to correct an omission of a coinventor under 35 U.S.C. § 256(b). The court held that the missing inventor was a required party for correction, and without his participation, the patents remained unenforceable.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a Lanham Act trademark infringement claim, holding that a company's sale of its own equity does not constitute "goods or services" under the statute. The court reasoned that because equity is an ownership interest rather than a marketable product offered to customers, advertising and selling shares cannot support a trademark infringement action.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed summary judgment, holding that Clear Touch's federal intellectual property claims were barred by a broad release and dismissal clause in a prior state-court settlement. The court reasoned that the agreement's plain language encompassed all claims that could have been brought in the earlier litigation, regardless of when they accrued.
The Federal Circuit affirmed summary judgment of noninfringement, holding that the patent applicant's prosecution history disclaimer limited the scope of the term 'specular UV reflector' to mirror-like surfaces. Consequently, the accused products utilizing diffuse reflective surfaces fall outside the patent's claims.
The Federal Circuit affirmed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's determination that Manufacturing Resources International's cooling system claims were unpatentable for obviousness. The court upheld the Board's finding that prior art disclosed the claimed constricted convection plate and that the patent owner failed to establish a nexus for its objective indicia of nonobviousness.